Sunday, 12 May 2013

Review: A Few Illamasqua Nail Polishes

Hello!

So today I bring you a couple of nail varnishes from Illamasqua that I brought up in London back in February as a birthday treat to myself! I really wanted to buy some make-up but at the time I couldn't justify it due to thinking about how I can't wear it every day because of my job. However, I would definitely buy something next time I was in a store if I really loved it, mainly because there isn't a store very close to me (I think the closest is London which is the one I went to) but also because I've seen loads of things on their website but would like to play about with the make-up before buying it online.

So the 3 nail polishes I picked up were ones I just happened to see in store that really caught my eye - they were basically impulse purchases! The girls in the Beak Street store that I went to were really lovely and helpful. They even offered me a bit of card to try any/all of the nail polishes out on if I wanted to, which was really helpful....and helped sell me on the nail polishes I picked!

The first one I picked was Glitterati which was so pretty but the girl was quick to point out that it only came in a duo set with Veridian. I don't really need another teal nail polish so was tempted to say no....but I just couldn't resist that beautiful glitter polish! I'm so glad I didn't say no to this one!

The other polish I picked up was from their spring collection I think. It's one of the speckled nail polishes in the colour Fragile. I really loved all the colours but chose this one because blue is my favourite colour and I thought this one looked more like an egg than the other colours.

The back of the bottles have standard instructions about how to apply it. The fact that it comes with 15ml of product in there is pretty good I think. Some polishes only come with 8 or 10ml so it's good to have so much product in a bottle (especially considering how expensive these polishes are really!)

This shows that each Illamasqua bottle comes with a removable square lid, which I find easier as I find using a polish with a bulky lid is a bit tricky for me.But if you prefer a bulkier lid, the square part stays on quite well too.

The brushes are quite thin, which is a pro and a con. I find that bigger brushes are easier for quick application, but thinner brushes are a bit more precise and good for nail art.

Picture of Glitterati with the flash on to try and show the pretty glitter pieces in it!

And here are the lovely swatches! These are all one coat swatches which shows how good the coverage is with just one coat of each polish! I was SO impressed with these and so happy. I would definitely buy more (I have my eye on a couple of the Rubber Brights colours on the kiosk at work...) I was especially impressed with the teal one as I have some teal polishes that are so watery that it takes about 6 coats for full coverage. Fragile and Glitterati are both really good coverage wise but I would do two coats for maximum cover. The glitter bits weren't too annoying to place either which was good - I didn't have to try and move it around loads before the polish dried. And speaking of drying time...these were really quick to dry! I used my trusty Sally Hansen Top Coat over these when they were on my nails and it made them all super shiny and pretty and made the glitter in Glitterati show up so nicely - I like the way that one is glittery without being too intense. I think Fragile actually looks better with a matte top coat on as it looks more like an egg shell with a matte top coat. I'll be honest, I wouldn't have picked Veridian up given the choice really. If I'm going to spend a hefty amount on nail polish, I want to make sure the polish is something exciting and different. At the end of the day, I have many teal polishes and recently got a Barry M one that is almost as good as this one (granted I've not found one with such good coverage in one coat though...)

Overall thoughts -

The Good:

Super good coverage straight away

Quite different colours

Fairly easy to remove despite being glitter coats!

Last for ages (5 days with no chips, which is impressive for me!) on my nails (with a base coat and top coat)

Seem to be easy to buy online, plus the website is generally pretty good for accurate swatches

The Bad:

Tad expensive for a nail polish (£13.50/£14.50 each usually - £24 for the duo...although I paid £27 for mine in the shop a few months ago - which takes my spend to £40.50 for 3 nail polishes....)

Shops don't seem to be anywhere down south really so you can only get them online - although online they do a pick your own bit where you can choose 3 polishes for £30, which saves you a bit of money which is always nice!

Not the biggest range of colours for a brand (although I personally feel there are enough for a make-up brand and the choice is quite varied for my liking but some people may be annoyed that there aren't hundreds to choose from!)

I must say, I really liked these polishes and would definitely buy more if I thought they were different enough to justify the price (I'm not going to go and buy a standard polish colour that Barry M also do you know? I mean...maybe if I was super rich I would, but even £2.99 on a polish I don't really need is difficult to justify let alone £13.50!) This is probably the first "High End" nail polish that I would really recommend to my friends (For example, I'm not a Nails Inc or Dior fan at all as I find their polishes have no lasting power for me at all) and if I had the money to treat myself I would definitely consider buying more of these beauties....when Debenhams have their mega week next week (starting Tuesday I believe!) I'm going to be very tempted to pick up a Rubber Brights colour with 10% off....

Have any of you guys tried any Illamasqua nail polishes? Any you recommend or any I should stay away from? Can anyone recommend any of their make-up as I really want to try it but don't know where to start really...any cult products to try??